Electro-optic (EO) displays can be used to generate electronic images for viewing. The EO displays generally include a backlight that illuminates displayed images in such a way that the viewer can see them when ambient light is present, such as in the daytime, as well as at nighttime when it is dark. Some EO displays, like liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are designed using a multilayer construction that includes a dark-colored substrate, a light source or backlight, liquid crystals, a plurality of polarizing filters, and one or more color filters. The backlights in LCDs can create light that illuminates the images created by the liquid crystals. However, LCDs have a number of limitations. For instance, LCDs are not transparent. Moreover, the color filters and/or the polarizing filters used in LCDs may block out a significant amount of the light generated by the backlight. To provide an acceptable amount of brightness that overcomes the filters, the LCD uses backlights that consume significant amounts of power. Also, the backlight is needed in both daytime and nighttime operation to illuminate the images created by the liquid crystals. While a backlight helps illuminate images during nighttime, it would be helpful for the EO display to operate using only ambient light rather than the backlight to illuminate images during daytime operation.